American Conservative Herald

A house divided against itself cannot stand. This has been proven over and over. That said, it’s not plain black and white. Some dissension is normal. And it can even be healthy if it encourages thoughtful solutions to problems. It’s when such differences become profound and irreconcilable that disaster awaits. Are we getting there in our country?

The immigration debate has turned ugly. It’s now to the point where some political jurisdictions within the US have refused to follow US immigration laws. Further, they have chosen to deliberately obstruct federal law enforcement officers charged with enforcing those laws. These would be the notorious sanctuary cities. While this development alone does not portend the imminent demise of the US, the direction in which it points is very disquieting.

One Republican Congressman has had enough. He has authored a bill to make it a federal crime to obstruct Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) and other federal immigration authorities. It seems like an unnecessary law. After all, isn’t “obstruction of justice” already illegal? And isn’t that what these mayors who facilitate sanctuary cities are doing? Since we have yet to see mayors of sanctuary cities marched off to jail, it is clear that this law is badly needed.

“The Kate Steinle verdict stunned millions of Americans, and left us speechless. How is it possible for someone who shouldn’t have even been in this country to get away with murdering an American citizen? Something that would have been unthinkable just 10 years ago has now come to pass, horrifying those of us who had faith in the justice system.

“Now one Republican in Indiana has decided that enough is enough; we need to hold accountable both the criminals, and the people who enable them to continue committing crimes on American soil by protecting them from local law enforcement as well as ICE.”

Tragically, it often takes a horrific event such as the Kate Steinle case to move government to action. Let’s just hope that’s truly what happens here.

“Rep. Todd Rokita is introducing the Stopping Lawless Actions of Politicians’ (SLAP) Act in response to the Steinle verdict, which only found Jose Ines Garcia Zarate guilty of unlawful possession of a handgun. Apparently having a gun is more important to the state of California than shooting and killing a young woman who was just enjoying the view from the pier.”

That Zarete remained at loose in the US where he could commit that crime is a disgrace to the political leaders in California. The are clearly more concerned with their leftist agenda than with their people’s lives.

“Zarate had been deported five times prior to the shooting, and the city of San Francisco has set him free again in direct violation of an immigration detainer. This happened three months before the murder of Kate Steinle. The federal authorities had no idea where he was until he was arrested for shooting the woman.”

“‘Politicians don’t get to pick and choose what laws to comply with,’ Rokita said. ‘Americans are dying because politicians sworn to uphold the law refuse to do so.'”

That seems so obvious that anyone from an earlier period in our history would be puzzled that there is even a debate on this.

“So what exactly would the SLAP Act do to protect Americans? Well first of all, it would punish officials for not cooperating with federal immigration authorities, and would directly target sanctuary cities which are harboring illegal aliens within their borders, protecting them from facing justice for their crimes.”

If legislating as illegal an act that is already illegal is necessary to fix the problem, then a bit of redundancy is very welcome.

Illegal immigrants, however, are not welcome. There is a procedure as specified by law as to how one can legally enter the US. No one has a right to be here other than our lawful citizens. Others get to wait their turn in line.

If migrants do not approve of our laws, they have the right to be unhappy. The can also either stay where they are or try a nation that more closely suits their desires.

And sanctuary cities must be banned. This, either by decision of their political leaders, or by hauling those leaders off to jail. The welfare of the people of the US comes first.